Gonna Be Everything That I'm Dreaming
by littlemissdrama
Summary: Proto Zoa is supposedly in the hospital because of an accident - but nobody's saying anything about it- and Zenon is on Earth to see just what's going on with him. But what happens when she realizes just what's happening? Proto ZoaZenon. Chapter 3 is UP!
1. There's No Gravity

Author's Note: This is my first Zenon story in quite a while, so if you see any errors, especially in the slang and character names, please tell me! Constructive crit is welcomed, but flames will be ignored and deleted on sight.  
  
"Vega Omega!" Looking at the holoscreen in something that on anyone else would have been complete shock, Zenon Kar shook her head as the image she was seeing didn't go away. So she wasn't hallucinating after all. "Did that just say Proto-Zoa is in the hospital?" Her face looked horror struck at the very idea, and next to her Margie and Cassie had identical expressions on their faces.  
  
"And it didn't even say why. How inky." Margie, always the first to jump to the not-so-happy conclusion, sounded absolutely stunned. "I wonder if Ellie Sho tried to kill him?" Off Cassie's doubtful look, she tossed back her hair. "She has a history of violence, you know. Threw her last boyfriend off a ski-lift last year."  
  
Zenon shook her head at her friend, still watching the news. "I don't think she'd try to kill her older brother, Marg. That's just too impossible major." The newscast faded away to commercials for a new kind of airbike, and she finally looked away. "Anyway, isn't she supposed to be shooting her new movie right now?"  
  
Her comm beeped before Margie could refute her statement, and she switched it on to see Nebula looking terrified. "Z, did you hear? Proto Zoa was in a jet crash - he's in the hospital! Jessica says they're operating on him as we speak." Her voice was hushed into a tone she usually saved for deep secrets or when trouble major was near them.  
  
"I'm watching right now, Neb." She threw the changer over to Cassie and mouthed at her to turn on the all day news. A mega boring channel, but she would sacrifice her non-bored state as long as they were totally reassuring everyone about the crash. What she - and teenaged girls everywhere - wanted was some nicely cheerful news about everything - maybe a statement from Lester saying everything was fine.  
  
Something not depressing and panick-y.  
  
"Good." Nebula nodded, her eyes blinking rapidly. "I have to go - class is just about to start. Z, call me if anything... happens." They shuddered in unison at the possibilities that could happen. Not all of them had cheerful solutions.  
  
"Gotcha." Waving to the screen, Zenon clicked it off and then looked up at her friends. "This is a crisis major. How could someone like Proto-Zoa be in the hospital?" Didn't he have someone making sure he'd stay safe every minute of every day? Weren't stars supposed to sign clauses allowing people to do that until their contracts with whoever ran out?  
  
Well, she didn't like it. At all. And the next time she was on Earth she might just take a few minutes to hunt him down and tell him that. In her bossiest voice, the one she used when Dasha tried to convince her that she needed to go live on Earth or ask Bronley out on a date.  
  
In other words, something impossible major.  
  
Cassie looked thoughtfully at the holoscreen and then glanced back at Zenon. "Do you think it might be... a lie? So he can take some time off again? He did just up and leave a few years ago, remember?" Her eyes were full of concern, and she frowned as Margie laughed.  
  
"Cassie. As if! If it were something like that, they'd be stressing an injury minor. That way nobody would freak out and go all weird." Margie looked mischievously to Zenon, ignoring the glare that was being shot at her. "Trust me on this one. It's how they all work."  
  
"She's probably right." Throwing the magazine-disc she had been looking at before they interrupted her show for a 'special broadcast' , Zenon sighed and rolled over onto the floor. "This is just not stellar," she muttered from beneath her nightstand.  
  
"Inky to the ninth power," Margie agreed with a frown. Nudging Zenon with her left foot, she watched the other girl burrow herself under the table even further. "Look, if it bothers you so much, go to Earth and see if he's all right."  
  
That was an idea that hadn't occurred to Zenon yet, and she paused while she considered it. She had the family - Aunt Judy and Dasha - the excuse - Dasha's birthday - and even the way to get there - Commander Plank. All systems were set to go. Grinning, she jumped up from the floor and hugged Margie. "Marg, you're a genius major!"  
  
Twirling away from her friends, she started singing Supernova Girl to herself. "This will work, I know it will. Hey..." She looked over at Cassie and Margie with a grin that reminded them both of how much trouble they had gotten into throughout the years. But that was okay - when they were with Zenon everything turned out okay. It was like a law of the galaxy. "Do you two want to come with me? Dasha would love to see you two again, and Aunt Judy wouldn't mind."  
  
Of course, Commander Plank - Zenon could never think of him as an uncle - would. But between her, Aunt Judy, and Dasha, the entire trip would be basically unavoidable. And besides, Dacha was turning thirteen. Every girl knew a thirteenth birthday was a mega-huge deal, and deserved a birthday that was just as big a deal.  
  
At Margie's quick nod and Cassie's muttered, "Sure, okay. No trouble this time, though." Zenon grinned at them both. Now came the easy part - convincing everyone that they needed to go to Earth as soon as they could leave.  
  
Which probably warranted a call to Dasha and then Aunt Judy. Sneaking a look at the clock, she blinked as it said it was only 16 hours. Later than she had thought. But at least this way Dasha would be home and not at school.  
  
Switching on her comm, she pressed a series of numbers - 64602353146- and then waited for her younger cousin to pick up and stop doing whatever she was doing. Probably listening to the news with the same single-minded intensity her friends were doing everywhere.  
  
It wasn't everyday one of the hottest stars in the universe landed himself in the hospital for unannounced causes, after all.  
  
With a wry grin, Zenon looked on in relief as Dasha finally answered. "What's up?" She watched the girl shrug into the comm and take a quick look behind her.  
  
"I was watching some talk show that Bronley was on, but they went to the news a while ago. Did you know Proto-Zoa is in the hospital?" She looked concerned but not overly so - the whole Proto-Zoa thing had basically passed her up, since she was five years younger than Zenon was. Instead she had a mega crush on Bronley Hale.  
  
Zenon nodded. "Yep. But that's not why I called..." She let her sentence trail off and grinned cheerfully instead. "How about we visit you for your birthday? It's only a week 'til, and it's your thirteenth. Birthday major." She'd leave out the part about visiting the hospital, since Dasha was actually more important. Especially since next week was going to be her week.  
  
She could sneak off and find Proto-Zoa after Dasha had turned thirteen. It was an agony minor to wait, and it'd make the younger girl happy.  
  
"Really? Stellar!" Dasha's face practically glowed at the idea, and Zenon grinned over to where Cassie and Margie were standing. "Margie and Cassie too, right?" She giggled slightly as she said it, and her cheeks turned red.  
  
God, was she that apparent when she was thirteen? How inky.  
  
Wandering over to in front of the comm, Margie nodded. "As long as we're allowed to go. How could I pass up a chance to celebrate your birthday, visit my old friends, and probably see my boyfriend?" She smirked as Dasha went even pinker.  
  
It was so fun to tease Dasha about her crush, especially since Marg was dating him. All three of them thought it was cute major, although Margie would never admit it and occasionally liked to taunt Dasha about trying to steal her boyfriend.  
  
"Really? Co -cool! I'll ask Mom and Dad, but I'm sure they'll say it's okay. They already wanted to invite a few people over anyway - Mom was supposed to call you tomorrow morning about coming down for a bit." Her pigtails bounced as she jumped up and down in excitement, squealing slightly. "This'll be so fun! And Margie, you can invite Bronley to my party if you'd like. Since he is your boyfriend."  
  
Her eyes were guileless, and the three girls didn't think for even a second it was because he was Margie's boyfriend. After all, they had been thirteen not so long ago - and besides, the redness on Dasha's cheeks let them all know there was an ulterior motive there.  
  
But that was okay, Zenon decided, sharing an amused look with Marg. Ulterior motives were all stellar until somebody got hurt. And she'd just have to make sure that nobody would get hurt. Sweat minor, right?  
  
"Great!" Zenon enthused, smiling brightly. "Do you want to go talk to Aunt Judy about it, then, and call me back tonight to tell us what she said?" She thought about saying that they could leave whenever possible, but decided against it. That was too obvious.  
  
And in the meantime, she'd just watch the news obsessively with Cassie and Margie. Not a mega deal. As long as there weren't any inky newcasts in the meantime, anyway. 


	2. Speed of Light

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews- they really made me smile! Here's the second chapter, and the third should be along in a few days – that's where things really start to get interesting. And thanks to J. L. Jordan for the beta!  
  
"This is so stellar!" Grabbing at Margie's hands, Zenon laughed at her friend's look of exasperation and, oddly, patience. "Come on, aren't you excited? This is an opportunity major! You'll get to see your friends, not to mention Bronley, and we get to get a break from the spay-stay!"  
  
Zenon loved her spay-stay and everything, because it was her home, but sometimes she really wanted a break from everyone on it, especially her parents. They still refused to acknowledge she was an adult, and not a little toddler. Probably because of all her adventures - the sort of thing that seemed fun to her gave them gray hairs - but still.  
  
"No, let's mention Bronley." Margie's voice was playfully sour, and she grinned over at Dasha. "After all, your baby cousin is trying to steal him from me." She made a quick face at them both, and then sighed. "He might not even be able to come, you guys. He's somewhere in Japan right now." It wasn't a happy topic for Margie - she had been hoping that his general personality of 'me', 'me' would turn into 'you', 'you' after they had started dating - so Zenon decided to change the subject. And quickly.  
  
"Well, you could always see what sort of Earth guys are around. I'm sure there's a few cute ones." Zenon gave her friend a fast smile before turning her attention to the street they were wandering down. "Uh, how are we supposed to get to Aunt Judy's house?"  
  
It was a reasonable question, especially since they were in the process of attempting to walk there. Which would have been stellar and everything - at least in Zenon's mind - except neither she or Marg were wearing walking shoes. In all of their planning, somebody had neglected to mention to her that instead of going to Aunt Judy's house with Commander Plank, they would be walking home with Dasha.  
  
A very quiet Dasha. Looking over at her younger cousin, Zenon's eyes filled with concern. "Dasha, are you okay? You seem down." An understatement major in her mind, especially with the way the girl was scuffing her shoes along the sidewalk, looking almost mournful.  
  
At her words Dasha looked up quickly, pulling on her ponytail. "I'm fine, Z. Just a little bummed about how I'm doing in school." She made a face at the words, and then grinned slightly. "But I'll deal - it's a disappointment minor. And Margie-" she spun towards the other girl, a wicked smile on her face, "I'm sure there's loads of guys Mom could introduce you to from class. Some of them might be just your type."  
  
She grinned again, her dimples showing, as Margie laughed softly. "So you can have Bronley? Sweetie, he's a bit too old for you." She looked more amused than she had been in a while, and Zenon grinned.  
  
Dasha shrugged. "Does that mean I can't think he's cute? What about when you two both had crushes major on Proto-Zoa?" She smiled smugly in triumph as Margie and Zenon just made faces at her. "See? I know he's too old for me and I know it's just a crush. Big deal."  
  
Zenon laughed, looking at Margie. "She does have a po- Vega Omega! What's going on?" Looking at the giant parade of - Ceedus Lepedisus, were those penguins?!- she blinked and waited for them to disappear. After a moment she opened her eyes again and frowned as she still saw the procession walking down the street.  
  
Either Earth had definitely gotten stranger in the six months she had been gone, or there was something majorly weird going on. Zenon was actually hoping for the latter, but had a sneaking suspicion it would definitely end up being the former.  
  
Which was too bad, really. Penguins marching in a nice long line down a public street seemed unusually interesting, and Zenon would absolutely love for it to be normal enough that she could just follow them down the paved street one day. Like following the yellow road in that old movie but following the pretend penguins instead.  
  
"I don't know." Looking over at the parade with wide eyes, Margie shrugged and then turned her attention back to Dasha. "The difference between those two is that I had every chance in the world with Proto-Zoa. I just chose not to date him." She flipped her brown hair behind her back with a haughty look.  
  
Zenon grinned, her eyes still watching the penguins until they left her sight. "Right, Margie. Which is why you couldn't even say a single word to him when we went to find him." She smiled at the memory. That was way before she and Margie had started to get along, so they had been at each other's necks the entire trip.  
  
Which wasn't too different than now, actually.  
  
Margie sniffed, dragging her three-inch heels down the sidewalk as she made a face at the road. "Our love didn't need words. I knew what was in his heart and he knew - hey!" She burst into laughter as Zenon tried to grab her arm. "It's true!"  
  
"No it isn't!" Zenon made another grab for Margie's arm, and when that didn't work settled for throwing a small rock at her. "She's lying, Dasha." She grinned at her cousin, who beamed back cheerfully, and asked, "How much more do we have to go before we get there?"  
  
Dasha scanned the road and the hovercars for a minute before frowning. "A lot. I think we're being mega slow today. If we go as quickly as I usually do, we'll be there in the next hour." She put a lot of stress on if, and Margie groaned.  
  
"We're never going to get there, are we? We'll have to camp out here and beg for food until someone takes pity on us and saves us from a lifetime of stress and early wrinkles." She sounded horrified major, and both of the other girls laughed. Trust Margie to be more concerned about wrinkles than living on the street.  
  
"I can call Dad, if you want." Dasha reached for her backpack, which held her communicator among other important things, but stopped as Margie shook her head quickly. There was an almost guilty look on her face, and she looked down at her shoes - lime green to match her dress and now complete with scuff marks- and sighed.  
  
"That's okay, I can walk. I didn't like these shoes much anyway." A contradiction major from what she had been chattering about yesterday, when they were still up on the spay-stay, and Zenon had to grin. Margie would have turned out just fine with a little brother or sister.  
  
Okay, maybe still spoiled. But easier to get along with overall.  
  
Probably.  
  
Zenon laughed and nodded as Margie stared at her shoes. "It's fine, we can walk. Sweat minor." And it was true. She was actually enjoying walking along and seeing everything - penguins, stands selling stuff, all the people hustling along. It was something they didn't have at the spay-stay much, since everything kinda moved at a slower pace.  
  
"Okay." Dasha swung her arms from side to side, smiling a nothing in particular. After a couple minutes of doing that, she inclined her head to a road sign that said 'Acorn'. "This is the way we should go - it's quicker this way." She smiled to herself as she peered down the road, humming Cosmic Blush's new song quietly.  
  
Which reminded Zenon: she really did need to pick up their new holodisc eventually. She loved their new song, and their duet with Proto-Zoa was on there too.  
  
Proto-Zoa...  
  
Wincing to herself, the teenager tried to shove him out of her mind. She had been watching the news every day – something she didn't usually do – but there had been no mention of the rock star since the initial report three days ago. The entire thing struck her as too inky, but she couldn't do anything until Thursday.  
  
Tomorrow.  
  
How completely stellar was that?  
  
Thinking to herself, Zenon just agreeably followed Dasha, turning when she did. Without even looking at her surroundings – hellooo, thoughts major here – she continued along the smooth street. Trusting people was something that came easily to her, and what sort of person would she have been if she didn't trust her cousin?  
  
"Zenon." Poking her in the arm and making her yelp, Margie rolled her eyes. "Whatever you're doing in la-la land, snap out of it and entertain me. Do you want me to die of boredom?" Her face looked horrified at even the idea, and Zenon laughed.  
  
"Of course not – who would there be to make fun of my clothes, hair, and oh, existence?" She laughed again and swung her blonde hair back behind her shoulders. "Stop being so panicked major, Marg. I do love you."  
  
Margie frowned and gave her a suspicious look. "What do you want?" Her brown eyes went into slits as Zenon simply gave her an angelic smile and skipped over to where Dasha was standing a few feet ahead. "Hold on, I'm coming too!"  
  
Dasha looked toward the sky. "We know that. But we're here." She gestured towards a house several yards in front of them, where Commander Plank was sitting on the porch talking to Aunt Judy. Funny – Why didn't it seem to take as long as Dasha had said it would?  
  
Zenon looked at Margie in confusion, but the other girl was nodding. "Good. It took us long enough." Before either Dasha or Zenon could comment, she bounded through the yard with the sort of smile she always had on her face when she was talking to adults.  
  
"Why did you bring her with you, again?" Dasha gave her a pointed look and wandered up the yard as well, pausing to hug Commander Plank and then Aunt Judy. Her almost-frown faded away into a smile when she picked up her puppy, cuddling her. "And how are you?" Zenon heard her coo in a sweet voice. "Did you miss me?"  
  
Dasha was talking to puppies now as if they were babies. Freaky major.  
  
Zenon just stood there for a moment, watching her family – and friends, if Margie could be counted as a friend and not Margie – and smiling to herself. Dasha would be thirteen soon, she would get to see her little cousin's face when she saw Bronley at her birthday party, and Margie was being somewhat pleasant.  
  
Plus, she would be seeing Proto-Zoa soon! A giant grin crossed her face at that thought, and this time she didn't ignore it so much as wonder what it meant. Not that she didn't have an idea – the giant neon sign in her head screaming 'crush, crush' and tap-dancing in her head gave her a few clues – but it was still weird major.  
  
"Z! Come here!" Her Aunt Judy grabbed her by the waist and gave her a giant hug after that, and her thoughts wandered away. She'd have time to ponder it all tomorrow, when she actually went to see him. Providing there wasn't something inky going on. The entire situation was giving her a gaseous feeling major, so she was feeling a little suspicious.  
  
But there wasn't. And even if there were, she'd fix it, because it was what she did.  
  
With another grin, she leaned into Aunt Judy's embrace. "Aunt Judy! I'm so glad to see you – it's been months!" She smiled at Commander Plank over her shoulder, cheerfully amused. He was standing there with a wry look on his face and his hands behind his back.  
  
Yep. Stellar. 


	3. Make My Heart Go

Gonna be Everything I'm Dreaming  
  
Rating: PG.  
  
Disclaimer: Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and all its sequels belong to Disney – I'm just playing with the characters.  
  
Notes: Thanks to Jess (J.L. Jordan) for the beta reading and the insistence that I had to continue. You're brilliant, Jess!  
  
Rolling over onto her back and groaning as she moved a muscle she really didn't want to think about, the teenaged girl made a face up at the ceiling. "I think I'm dead." Her voice was groggy – even she could tell that – and her legs ached so much she didn't think she'd want to walk for days.  
  
She heard Margie echo her groan from the next bed over, but didn't look over at her. That would require moving. "You aren't the only one. I think my legs are permanently detached from my body." Her voice was oddly hoarse, and Zenon heard her make another whimper.  
  
"Oh, come on! That was fun! Right, Zee?" Dasha, the only bouncy one in the room, let out a quick peal of laughter as Margie groaned again. "It was," she insisted cheerfully. "Come on, don't you love soccer?"  
  
Her cheerfulness, Zenon decided with a glare up at the ceiling, made her want to kill the younger girl. It should have been illegal for anyone to go through that much exercise and not immediately collapse from the pain.  
  
And it was. At least in her mind.  
  
"You hate me." Margie let out another moan. "You hate me and you want me to ruin my shoes. It's all a plot to make sure everyone else has better shoes than me." She sounded almost paranoid, and Zenon had to wonder if the heat from earlier had caused some sort of meltdown among her internal organs. Namely her brain.  
  
Dasha made a squawk of protest and jumped up on the other bed. "I do not. Zenon, tell her I don't." She thought about opening her mouth to reply, but thought better of it as her leg shifted slightly and pain shot through her. If she actually moved her head to say something, she would probably die from the pain.  
  
"Mmph." Zenon nodded in her head after that. There: she had replied, she was a good girl, and could her legs – no, her body – please stop hurting now? It would be stellar major if it did; she had a visit due to the local hospital tomorrow and she didn't want to hobble in there.  
  
They might mistake her for one of their patients and never let her leave. Which was completely not an option, since she had planned it out already and being taken hostage by nurses who desperately wanted to fix her was not mentioned in any of the four versions she had written out.  
  
Or the twenty-two versions she had created in her head since last week. And they said that she never thought ahead for anything! Well, she would show them.  
  
Or she had shown them when she actually did plan things. Zenon was a little unsure on that point, since it seemed like it could go either way quite cheerfully. Probably also dressed in a turtle outfit, since that would be interesting.  
  
Vega Omega, it was official: the heat – and all the running, kicking, and just generally exercising – had fried her brain. She was probably getting ready to have a meltdown major.  
  
But hopefully that could wait until after she had figured out just what was going on with Proto Zoa. After that her brain could fry, have a crisis major, even do cartwheels if it really pleased. Just as long as it didn't start until tomorrow night.  
  
"Fine." Dasha huffed slightly to herself, then dropped down onto her bed and giggled. "You know what I think?" She sounded as mischevious as a thirteen-year old could, and Zenon wondered briefly what had possessed her to want to spend two weeks here. Hadn't she realised that after three days she'd probably be ready to strangle the other girl?  
  
"What?" Zenon saw Margie roll over onto her left side from the corner of her eye. "Do you think that if I play any sport again for the next century I'll die? Because I'd have to agree with you." She gingerly moved her arms so her head was propped up on one of them.  
  
"Noo... I think Zenon likes Proto Zoa! Like, in a crush major way." Dasha sounded undeniably thrilled at herself with that realization, and Zenon didn't have the heart to tell her that she had figured the same thing out months ago. Better to deny it so Dasha could be even happier.  
  
Oh, and so she wouldn't be teased throughout her entire life about a little crush minor that she kinda had for five years or so. That wasn't that long, right?  
  
"I do not!" Moving to sit up and glare at Dasha, Zenon shook her head as quickly as she could. And vega omega, that hurt. That was it, she was never going to move. Ever.  
  
"Yes you do." Margie turned over, albeit slowly, to grin at her. "You do and you're even more hopeless than I thought if you haven't realized it by now." There was a note of glee major in her voice, and Zenon felt herself make a face in Margie's direction before she could even realize what she was doing.  
  
"I do not." Now she sounded even more stubborn, if that were possible. And childish – she couldn't leave out childish. Frowning over at Margie, she actually achieved the strength to move her legs. Even if she was pretty hopeless major at moving beyond a few feet, she could strangle Margie if she needed to.  
  
Oddly, that filled Zenon with security major.  
  
"Yes, you do." Margie's voice was stern. "You do and you know it, so why are you pretending to have no idea what we're talking about?" A strand of brown hair fell into her face as she spoke, and she brushed it away.  
  
"Yeah!" Dasha bounced up on her bed and looked suspiciously at Zenon. "You aren't shy, since you were about ready to kiss Bronley without even knowing- Oops." She looked up at Margie with a sheepish smile, and the other girl waved a manicured hand at her airily.  
  
"I'm mega smart, Dasha. I know it all already." Zenon looked up in relief – how to explain to Margie that even though he hadn't been her boyfriend at the time, they had still almost kissed?- and Margie laughed. "Zee, you looked pancaked."  
  
Zenon shrugged, refusing to admit how much the idea of possibly losing Margie as a friend would bother her. If it were Neb, she would know it wouldn't have mattered, since it was just guy stuff. But Marg would probably be more offended at the idea of Zenon getting to him before she did than it being any particular guy.  
  
"But-" She abruptly changed the subject "-We aren't talking about Bronley. We're talking about you and Proto Zoa." Hearing another sour note in Margie's voice, Zenon and Dasha both winced. Yeah, there was definitely trouble in paradise. Even Marg wasn't that testy without a reason.  
  
"So why are you lying?" Dasha's inquisitive eyes met Zenon's, and she felt an urge to blush. Something she very quickly killed – she didn't blush. She might look sheepish, she might act silly and jittery and all ridiculous, but she didn't blush.  
  
"I'm not lying. It isn't a crush major – that was for people like Gregory and Orion. This is a..." Frowning, Zenon searched for the right words and then grinned in triumph as she found them. "This is a momentary emotional fling."  
  
Now as long as they didn't ask her why.  
  
"Why?" Dasha jumped up from her bed and flung herself down on Zenon's. Margie did the same, looking for all the galaxy like she had found a juicy piece of gossip and couldn't wait to hear what it was. Actually, that was probably the exact reason.  
  
Gotta love Margie. No matter how rude major she might occasionally be, at least she was predictable.  
  
"Because it's not entirely stellar. Do you know how much older he is than me?" Zenon made a face at the idea – honestly, who could have known he was thirty-one? - and curled up into a small ball, ignoring all the pain moving gave her. "This is so inky," she muttered to herself. "Dasha, do you have anything to make my body stop screaming in pain major every time I move?"  
  
Margie looked over at Zenon from a foot away and nodded. "If you did it'd be fabulo, since I'm closer to dead than I've been since I was abandoned out in the wilderness with Zenon." She rolled over and looked over at Zenon with an amused smile.  
  
"Yeah, well, it was your fault." Zenon smiled to the other girl and then started playing with a loose thread on her lime green pajamas; her hands were bored major. Or she was just antsy at what she was going to do tomorrow.  
  
Probably both.  
  
Margie stayed silent for a moment and then nodded. "Probably." She grinned as she said it, but her smile quickly changed into something resembling horror. "But if either of you dare tell someone I said that, I'll make sure Daddy gets you in trouble major."  
  
Dasha laughed. "You don't scare us, Margie." She bounced on the bed again, making both Zenon and Margie groan. "Okay. Hold on and I'll go see if Mom has anything that can work on your back." She got off the bed and wandered away, kicking piles of dirty clothes and hair things as she went.  
  
"Finally!" Pouncing on Zenon as soon as Dasha had slammed the door behind her, Margie grinned. "So what is going on with you two? There's something, I can see that. Have you kissed?" She nudged Zenon with her arm.  
  
Zenon laughed. Of course this was what would come next. It had been the same with Orion and Sage. It was unavoidable major by now, wasn't it?  
  
Have your friends find out you had a little crush major and have them all demand you for details the next minute. With all the things that had changed since she was thirteen, it wasn't even a shock this had stayed the same. Sadly.  
  
"No!" She sat up, albeit with aching muscles, to throw one of Dasha's orange throw pillows at Margie. "I can't believe you think that we would – except we did once. Kinda." The memory – that had been shoved away to the back of her mind – came rushing to the surface, and she felt herself try to blush. Again.  
  
"Vega Omega!" Margie sat straight up on the bed, pushing aside the pillow Zenon had thrown at her as well as the one she had curled herself around. "Zee, are you serious? That's so stellar!" Her face shown with the sort of glee that Zenon was used to only seeing on her friend's face when she had won something – or had gotten the attention of a mega gorgeous guy.  
  
"It wasn't a kiss major. It was just kinda a kiss." Zenon paused after that and wove a strand of hair around her index finger. How was she going to phrase this? "It was just..." Words failed her again – her! Zenon Kar – and she frowned. "It was a deal minor, Marg. Now be quiet about it – I don't want to have Dasha teasing me the entire trip."  
  
Ah. Orders were something she really did love, as long as she was the one giving them.  
  
"Fine." Margie glared; her earlier delight seemed all but gone. "My back is killing me, anyway." Another frown crossing her face, she moved off of Zenon's bed and onto her bed. For a minute there was nothing but complete silence; worry on Zenon's side and who-knew-what on Margie's.  
  
Zenon sighed and gathered up her courage. Apologizing was never something she was good at. "Margie? Marg, I'm sorry. I'm just confused." And that was an understatement major as far as she was concerned. Having a crush was one thing, but the weird feelings she was getting in her stomach – like a giant black hole eating everything up – weren't things she was used to feeling.  
  
At all.  
  
Margie turned over and nodded at Zenon, her brown eyes thoughtful. "It's okay. It does make sense." There was some sort of experience in Margie's voice that seemed like unfamiliar territory to her – since when did Margie become understanding about things like this – and Zenon couldn't help but wonder what she had missed.  
  
Probably something important major.  
  
With a sigh, Zenon rolled over and shut her eyes. Dasha still wasn't back yet with whatever she was going to get, but she needed her sleep. It was better than deliberating over things she had never bothered to think about much before.  
  
Besides, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She'd get to see just what was going on with Proto Zoa, and maybe she'd even figure out what to do about how she felt towards him.  
  
Maybe.  
  
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"Aunt Judy, Dasha, do you mind if Margie and I go out and shop today? I wanted to get something else for you." Zenon nodded over towards Dasha, who was busy stuffing her face full of cereal. She nodded, though, and received a smile from both Zenon and Margie.  
  
Aunt Judy just blinked, her hand reaching up to rub her eyes. Clad in a cotton robe and with her hair all falling around her, she looked like she would prefer to be still in bed than eating breakfast.  
  
Or staring off into space while Dasha and Zenon ate breakfast.  
  
"Fabulo!" Margie gave them all a giant smile, obviously delighted at the prospect of shopping the entire day away. Which she would be doing – just without Zenon, who had other plans and wasn't above using Margie as an accomplice/alibi.  
  
And Margie wasn't above being used as such as long as she got a new pair of shoes out of the deal, so everyone was happy. Except for maybe Aunt Judy, who wasn't so enthusiastic about being up.  
  
Or Commander Plank, who was going to take them to the biggest mall in the city. Especially since he was unaware major about the entire idea – it was supposed to seem sudden, not an 'I-Planned-This-Five-Days-Ago-So-I-Could- Go-Make-Sure-Proto-Zoa-Is-Okay-Please-Don't-Tell-My-Parents' sort of thing.  
  
Aunt Judy nodded again before lying her head down on the table and yawning. "That works, girls, since Edward had wanted to spend the day with Dasha at the beach." Dasha's smile got wider at Aunt Judy's words, and Zenon stifled a laugh.  
  
Somehow, she could not see Commander Plank at the beach.  
  
Zenon and Margie locked eyes, and they both exchanged grins. She mouthed, "Ahh!" at Zenon, and Zee had to stop herself from giggling again. It was reassuring major to know that she wasn't the only one that couldn't see him at the beach. Would he wear his uniform even there?  
  
A giggle escaped her. "Great!" She beamed at Aunt Judy before turning to Dasha. "Do you mind, Dasha? I just thought of a stellar present for you last night, and I want to get it." Which was true major. She did think of something brilliant, and she did want to get it.  
  
It would just be Margie buying it instead.  
  
Zenon put on one of her angelic faces – the ones that she wore when she was up to something and she didn't want the adults to know about it – and smiled cheerfully as Dasha nodded again. Everything was going according to plan, and she felt like shrieking with delight.  
  
Today she would get to see Proto Zoa.  
  
"We should go, then." Margie grabbed Zenon by her sleeve and pulled her off of her chair, tapping her foot as impatiently. "Oh-" and then she turned to Aunt Judy just like they had rehearsed, "- Do you think Commander Plank would take us?" Her eyes widened in innocence major, and Dasha's head shot up to look at Margie suspiciously.  
  
Evidently the complete and total innocence was too much. They had thought it might be, but Zenon had decided they might as well go for it anyway.  
  
"Sure. Go ahead and tell him." Aunt Judy didn't even look up from the table; to all extents and purposes she was ready to sleep.  
  
"Okay." Margie nodded and went off to tell him – bossiness always had been one of her strong points – while Zenon stayed behind and gave Dasha a quick hug. "It's nothing bad, I promise," she whispered into her ear. "You'll see when we get back."  
  
Dasha smiled up at her and hugged her back. "I know," she murmured quietly when she let go. "I'm not stupid major, Zee." She rolled her eyes after she said it, bravado and smugness pouring out of her. Whether she was thirteen officially or not, the attitude had already taken hold of her.  
  
"Have fun at the beach." Zenon gave her a big smile before nudging Aunt Judy with her elbow. "And you need to get some more sleep. Go back to bed." Her aunt just nodded before closing her eyes again. After a moment, a snore escaped her lips.  
  
"Ready, Zenon?" Margie practically skipped into the room, a grumpy looking Commander Plank trailing after here. "He wants us to leave now, so let's go." Her eyes were sparkling and she had a firm grip on her purse – shopping was less a fun pastime and more of a religious experience major for Marg.  
  
"Sure." A strand of blonde hair fell into her eyes and she pushed it back before grabbing Margie's wrist and pulling her out the door. "No – wait." She detached herself and picked her bag up from a chair before waving at Dasha as Margie pulled her out of the door.  
  
And here they entered stage two of her brilliant major plan: get her and Margie to the mall. Then get her off on her real destination – the Galaxy Hospital. Where the mega famous rock star, Proto Zoa, was staying until he was given a clean bill of health.  
  
(Or at least that's what Zenon had decided, since the accident was near here and since that's where he had been when he had broken his arm last year.)  
  
"Ready, girls?" Commander Plank gave them a somewhat sleepy smile, and Margie and Zenon looked at each other. Where they ready? Was she ready?  
  
Yeah, Zenon decided with a fervent nod. She was definitely ready. 


End file.
